The problem with the game is two-fold. First, it's addictive as heck. Second, it turns you into a deranged lunatic on the forums

If you have an interest in getting better, there are numerous tricks to try. Some are mentioned in the article. Keep restarting the first level until the first "prize" to drop is a gun (start the first level by moving 3 notches to the left, and letting the ball go -- it will always hit the same place and release a bonus). Guns are the best. You get 50 points for a brick. Only shoot Blue bricks with the gun (that way, you get the multiple points until it turns Blue, then the 50 points with the gun). With the laser, try and hit a brick only once with the laser, then with the ball (the laser gives 5 points, the ball gives another 10 and turns the color -- if you hit it twice with the laser, you'd only have gotten 10 points). On levels 5 and 6, hitting the permanent metal bricks with the gun give you A LOT of points (100?), but you can't hit the ones in the far right column. And on and on and on.

After a while you will develop a healthy loathing for that G*d D@mned brick in the lower right hand side between the two permanent metal bricks in level 5. That one little pice of dirt brick will cost you your sanity, and if you're unlucky your girlfriend, dog, house, etc...

The graphics in Brickbreaker 4.0 (with the Arkanoid-style background graphics) seems to have good fluidity in graphics. I wonder what videogame API's it is using. Come and post in the Developer forum if you know!

The graphics in Brickbreaker 4.0 (with the Arkanoid-style background graphics) seems to have good fluidity in graphics. I wonder what videogame API's it is using. Come and post in the Developer forum if you know!

What do you mean by videogame api, its no different from the earlier versions just with more time spent on the quality of the graphics.

I agree that the controls are a bit weaker in the 4.0 version. Fewer "moves" or "ticks" from left to right. Also, by adding the direction pointer for the ball release, you lose the ability to move before releasing the ball. It seems that this version will be more about getting extra lives, as the speedup and slowdown combined with the blocks dropping lower, make staying alive the real challenge.

Mark: do you think there is a BB API at work here? The reason I ask is that I have found the Magmic graphics to be equally impressive, and I didn't think those were BB specific.

>>"What do you mean by videogame api, its no different from the earlier versions just with more time spent on the quality of the graphics."

Then by all means, I will rephrase my question. What generic API's are in use for making videogames, and what Java optimizations are needed to make high-performance high-framerate graphics. Perhaps there is a website link, etc. RIM page, SUN J2ME page, etc. It would be useful material for the Developer forum!

Possibly, they could still improve the game for the next revision of 4.0 ...maybe RIM is still getting feedback for BrickBreaker! :D

>>"Mark: do you think there is a BB API at work here? The reason I ask is that I have found the Magmic graphics to be equally impressive, and I didn't think those were BB specific."

They may or may not be BB specific, that is a question I'm curious about. It would be good to document the programming techniques since there are probably going to be more programmers making more videogames for the Blackberry in the future, and it would be good to know the techniques (like using partial repaints instead of full repaints; minimizing slow OS calls, etc, whatever techniques are used to keep the framerate high for videogame animations)